By Larry Wigge
Columbus' 4-3 victory against St. Louis put the Blue Jackets six games over .500 for the first time in team history. ... The Anaheim Ducks are now 14-18-2 overall since Dec. 1 and out of a playoff spot. ... Pity all of those fantasy-league types who dropped the Kings' Anze Kopitar earlier this season when his statistics dropped off while new coach Terry Murray was making him into a better all-round player. Now look at him: Six points in two games, 7 goals and 11 points in seven games and 8 goals and 15 points in his last 12 games. ... That famous elbow that Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom rested during the All-Star weekend that cost him a one-game suspension seems to be feeling better now. How else can you explain a pair of two-goal games for Nick -- the first time he's had two two-goal games in a span of 30 days ever? ... Why does it not come as a surprise that Mike Babcock's 200th win in 304 games behind the Detroit bench is the fastest 200 wins for one team by any coach in history (Scotty Bowman previously won 200 games in Montreal in his first 328 games)? ... Rangers winger Nigel Dawes really, really hates his closest rivals -- the Devils and Islanders. Ten of his 24 regular-season goals have come against the Devils and Islanders (five against each opponent), while he's had only 14 goals in 93 games against the rest of the NHL. ... After playing in 619 of his first 629 regular-season NHL games, Dallas center Brad Richards now has to watch for 6-8 weeks while his broken right wrist heals. He says watching captain Brenden Morrow rehab his knee like a madman for a return sometime in the playoffs is ample reason to follow the team's leader and make the most of lost time. ... You can tell Marty Brodeur will be ready for what appears to be his first start (Feb. 26 against Colorado) when he says this about his surgically repaired biceps, "Maybe with that new arm, I'll be able to shoot it harder." ... Isn't it interesting how a good coach like Joel Quenneville can switch a player like Troy Brouwer from center to left wing on a line with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane and the threesome can seamlessly look as good if not better than it did before Patrick Sharp injured his knee (an injury that is expected to keep him out three weeks)? ... Now that Calgary center Matthew Lombardi is gaining confidence offensively, look out. With his speed and the speed of other second-tier scorers Rene Bourque and Curtis Glencross, the Calgary Flames figure to be an even greater offensive threat down the stretch. ... Is it me or doesn't it seem strange that the Minnesota Wild have yet to get free-agent-to-be goaltender Nicklas Backstrom re-signed? Every save has shown Nick is clearly the Wild's MVP -- and each save rings like a cash register to me. ... With 10 home games in February, wouldn't you think the Nashville Predators would be jumping with enthusiasm for the chance to get back into the top eight in the Western Conference? They went 2-2-0 in their first four home games this month and needed shootouts to win those two. ... Chris Mason says he will only look at being No. 1 goaltender for the St. Louis Blues from game to game, not a permanent title, because replacing Tomas Vokoun in Nashville last season didn't go exactly the way he wanted. Regardless of his superstition, Mason had a 7-2-3 record, 1.56 goals-against average and .942 save percentage in his first 12 games after wrestling the share of the goaltending load away from Manny Legace. ... You do the math: Colorado is 2-0 in overtime and 8-1 in shootouts, an astonishing accomplishment for a team that is 27-30-1. ... It must be like working on a Masters degree for Florida forwards Stephen Weiss and Gregory Campbell. Both learned their trade in junior hockey player for Peter DeBoer. Now that DeBoer is behind the Panthers bench both are playing even better. ... Seeing Travis Zajac's breakout year for the Devils this season might make some wonder about another former North Dakota University first-round pick -- Buffalo's Drew Stafford. Don't worry about Drew, he's had 9 goals and 9 assists in 21 games since the turn of the new year. His 17 goals are a career-high that will someday approach 30. ... You've got to feel for Carolina winger Justin Williams, who scored 31 and 33 goals in 2005-06 and '06-07 but injuries limited him to 37 games last season and he won't get in that many games this season because of another injury. ... It's nice to see Ryan Shannon getting another chance at the NHL. Isn't it interesting how minor-league coaches elevated to the bigs sometimes know players better than the NHL team? Shannon netted two goals playing the point on the Senators' power play for his former Binghamton coach Cory Clouston against Colorado on Feb. 17. ... You don't have to look further than the Josh Bailey-Kyle Okposo-Blake Comeau line to see some brightness in the future of the New York Islanders. ... With the trade of Mathieu Schneider to Montreal, Zach Bogosian and Nathan Oystrick are the young defensemen who figure to get the first opportunity to show off their offensive abilities on the Atlanta Thrashers power play.
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